One Chance
by Bleach Fox
Summary: Ichigo had never thought his time was limited, but when he found out it was, he decided to make the best of what he had.
1. Chapter 1

One Chance:

- Ichigo had never thought his time was limited, but when he found out it was, he decided to make the best of what he had.

A/N: This story is just something I do in my spare time when I can't write any more of my normal ones, helps with writer's blocks a lot. It won't be replacing priority on my other stories but be something I will occasionally update from time to time when there's enough wrote for a chapter.

I'm not sure how long it will end up being, maybe the length of a normal story or shorter, haven't decided yet, just going to see where it goes for now. Anyway, enjoy and R&R :)

Chapter 1:

"You have cancer."

Ichigo's world came to a sudden halt when the words left the doctor's mouth, his mind working overtime to try and understand what he had said. He looked up at the doctor with panicked eyes, noting the calm, underlying sadness in them. Clearing his throat, Ichigo managed to ask the one question he could think of.

"How long do I have?"

His doctor looked down at the notes, sighing as he sat down next to him and looked him in the eyes. "A few months at best, if you're lucky, half a year. The cancer has grown to an inoperable size and there's nothing we can do to stop it. All we can do is make you comfortable."

Ichigo nodded and looked down, focusing very hard on breathing which had become very difficult to do. When he calmed down he looked up again. "What can you do?"

"Give you medication to slow down the rate of growth, it won't help much, but it might give you a few more weeks. The results are variable so I can't give you a reliable figure."

Ichigo nodded. "Ok." Standing up, he took a deep breath and glanced at the door where his family were stood on the other side waiting for him. "Doc?"

"Yes Ichigo?"

He turned to look at the man and smiled. "Thank you for what you're doing, even if it doesn't make a difference."

"Of course." He gently placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulders, looking at him kindly. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, no matter how small the problem is."

"I won't."

"Good." Handing Ichigo his prescription, he opened the door. "Do you want me to tell them?"

Ichigo shook his head, sighing heavily. "No, I will." He nodded at the doctor before leaving the room. He stopped and looked at his family as they stood up, looking at him anxiously. He took a deep breath before telling them. "The results came back positive."

His mother was the first to move, coming over to him instantly and hugging him tightly as his father sank into a chair, holding his head in his hands. Ichigo closed his eyes as his mother's scent enveloped him, calming his nerves and he slowly hugged her back.

She pulled away to smile down at him, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. "So what do you want to do about it sweetheart?"

"I can't do anything. It's inoperable and all the doctor can do is give me medication which might slow down the process, he doesn't know by how much, or even if it will work. But it's worth a shot right?"

"Of course, whatever you want." She hugged him again, kissing the top of his head with a sigh. "How long?"

Ichigo gripped the back of her shirt tightly. "A few months, maybe half a year."

She paused and looked down at her son as he clung to her before sighing and kissing his head again. "Let's go home and talk ok?" Ichigo nodded and let her lead him out of the room, at the door, she glanced back at Isshin to see he hadn't moved since sitting down. "Isshin, we're going home, come on."

He glanced at her and sighed, standing up to follow them out of the hospital. On the way home, Ichigo didn't speak; he looked out the window as the rain splatted against the glass and rested his head on the cool surface. Looking at his reflection, Ichigo could see he was pale and it looked as if finding out the truth had made him appear ill, even though the idea made him snort.

When they got home, Ichigo followed his parents inside and paused when he found Yuzu and Karin stood in the hallway, looking at him worriedly. Something inside him changed when he saw their faces and he made a resolution to himself, no matter how bad it got, he wouldn't let them see it.

So he smiled and went over to them both, pulling them into a hug. "Hey guys."

"So you gunna tell us what happened?" Karin asked, her voice wavering and betraying her as Yuzu started sniffing.

"The results came back positive." Ichigo smiled softly when Yuzu started crying and brushed away the tears. "Doc gave me a few months."

"But, but..." She sniffled, rubbing her face. "You can't go!" Ichigo fell back on his butt when Yuzu threw herself into his arms and sighed, kissing her head.

"I don't want to either Yuzu; I'll stay as long as I can, promise." Holding her tightly, he looked at Karin to see she was tremoring and smiled, holding out an arm. "C'mere." Karin just stood looking at him for a moment before moving closer, letting Ichigo pull her onto his lap too. "It's going to be fine, ok?"

"Idiot." She mumbled. "We should be telling you that, not the other way around."

Laughing lightly, Ichigo managed to smile at their parents, reassuring them seemingly as they relaxed. "I'm fine at the minute so no need to worry. Now come on," he stood up, pulling the twins to their feet. "I'm hungry and I'm betting you guys are too, let's go eat. I hope you've made something good Yuzu."

She perked up slightly and smiled. "I made your favourite Ichi-nii!" She grabbed Karin's hand and pulled her into the kitchen to help set up dinner and Ichigo watched them go with a smile before glancing back at Masaki and Isshin.

"Nothing to worry about." When he turned to follow his sisters into the kitchen, he stumbled when pain shot through his side like a hot lance and gasped, bending over to clutch his side. Masaki rushed to his side and steadied him and after a few moments, when the pain had subsided to a dull throbbing that he could withstand, Ichigo straightened up again. He smiled weakly at his mother and wiped the sweat of his forehead. "I'm fine, just give me a moment."

She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip in worry, a trait Ichigo had inherited before she looked at Isshin. "Help me get him to a chair." When Isshin didn't move, she sighed and shook her head before half supporting, half dragging Ichigo to the dining room so he could sit down. "Do you need anything?"

"A glass of water would be nice." Ichigo looked up and smiled when he saw she was watching him worriedly. "Don't worry mum, I won't drop dead if you leave." He chuckled when she flinched slightly. "Too soon?"

"It's always going to be too soon Ichigo." Kissing his head, she sighed again and left the room, returning a few moments later with his drink. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Taking the drink, Ichigo pulled out his medication, taking one of the pills out. "Might as well start this now, can't go keeling over when I'm at school."

Masaki sat down next to him and started playing with a strand of his hair. "You don't have to keep going to school if you don't want. I'm sure if we explained the situation, they wouldn't force you to go."

Ichigo paused before looking at her. "I want to keep going. If there's one thing I want, its normality. Besides, I'll go crazy if I have nothing to do all day every day."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. But I still think we should tell the school about your condition in case something does happen so they can call us or the doctor."

Ichigo sighed, but nodded anyway, if it made his mother feel better that the school knew, then so be it. "Ok."

"Dinner's ready!"

Yuzu called happily, bringing in some plates with Karin following behind, her usual stoic expression back in place. They set the food down and took their places at the table as Isshin slowly made his way into the room and sat down. Ichigo noted how he walked calmly in, no boisterous yelling or gestures, or even an attack, which was definitely out of the ordinary for him.

"Dad?"

He looked up when Ichigo asked for him, turning to look at his son. "Yes?"

"Are you ok?"

"Of course." He looked down at his plate and sighed. "I just wish there was something I could do for you. Someway I could help."

"There isn't dad, it's too late."

"I know, I just can't accept there's nothing we can do for you."

"You can stop acting like this and be your normal, albeit annoying, self again. That would make me feel better." Ichigo smiled at his dad when he looked at him with a frown. "I just want things to be normal, treating me differently will just make me feel worse."

Isshin sighed and looked down. "If that's what you want." He grabbed a bowl suddenly and threw it at Ichigo, it just missing him as he ducked.

"What the hell?!"

"I see you reactions are as fast as ever! Well done my son!"

Ichigo opened his mouth to start yelling, but sighed and shook his head. "Idiot." He muttered before eating. After he finished, he stood up, intending to clean up but Yuzu shook her head and grabbed the plate.

"I'll do it Ichi-nii. You go sit down and rest."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her before chuckling and kissing her head. "Ok, but I'm doing them next time."

She smiled dotingly at him before grabbing the rest of the plates and going into the kitchen. Ichigo sighed and glanced at his watch to see it was seven and yawned. "I'm going upstairs, see you tomorrow." He waved his hand and disappeared, grabbing a towel from the cupboard so he could shower.

Afterwards, he stood in front of hir mirror and gently ran his hand over his stomach and sighed, at least he didn't look any different. Grabbing a shirt, he pulled it on before sitting down and grabbing a piece of paper and pen, scribbling down a title.

_' What I want to do before dying: '_

He tapped the pen in thought against his chin before slowly writing down a few things.

_' One: Finish school._

_Two: Get good grades. '_

After all, he was in his final year, he only had three months left so he wanted to finish and get some assemblance of acceptable grade. Even if they meant nothing, it would be an achievement to have known he could've gone to University.

_' Three: Go on holiday with friends. '_

They'd been planning a week away to the beach in the summer, something Ichigo was looking forward too and definitely didn't want to miss.

_' Four: Fall in love. _

_Five: Loose virginity. '_

So sue him, who wanted to die a virgin? Definitely not Ichigo. He would experience that and hopefully fall in love with someone, someone who would understand his condition. He snorted at the thought, who would want to be tied down to him on a good day, let alone now he knew he had cancer.

He sighed and looked at the list before slowly adding one more. Throwing down the pen, he yawned and crawled into bed, falling asleep instantly. The moonlight shining in the room illuminating the last point on his list.

_' Six: Ask Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques out. '_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

When Ichigo got up in the morning, he rolled over to look out the window at the clear blue sky and snorted before burying his head in his pillow with a groan. After ten minutes of debating, he sat up slowly and winced, rubbing his side and stood up slowly.

Opening his cupboard, Ichigo paused and looked in the mirror, the pale skinned, tousled haired and wide eyed reflection staring back. He tore his gaze away to look at his clothes, grabbing a random shirt before closing the cupboard to find some trousers to pull on.

When he felt another throb in his side and sighed heavily, rubbing the spot before glancing at his desk to grab his medication. Going downstairs, he went into the kitchen, smiling at Yuzu when she saw him and grabbed a glass to down a pill with it.

"Morning Yuzu, everything ok?"

"Of course. How are you?" She looked at his hand and Ichigo looked down at it too, noting he was holding his medication and sighed, setting it on the table.

"I'm fine. Just don't think about it yeah."

She eyed the bottle for a moment before smiling. "Of course Ichi-nii. I made breakfast, are you having some before leaving?"

Looking at her hopeful eyes, he sighed and nodded in defeat. "Sure, I'll be back down in a minute." Kissing her head, he went back upstairs to grab his bag, slipping the medication into the side, just in case he needed it before going back down, dumping it next to the front door. "What's for breakfast then?"

"Toast and porridge, is that ok?"

"Prefect, thank you." He took a bowl from her a grinned, sitting down to eat it quickly, he didn't want to be late for school. When he spooned the last of it into his mouth, he grabbed a piece of toast and grinned at Yuzu. "Thanks, see you tonight."

"Bye, have a good day at school!"

Ichigo paused when he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder before turning around to see his mum watching him. "Hey mum, what's up?"

"Are you sure you want to go to school?"

"Of course." He smiled reassuringly before kissing her cheek and opening the front door. "What would be the point in sitting around all day?"

She watched him go worriedly before sighing and shaking her head. "Look after yourself Ichigo."

...

Finishing the toast, Ichigo brushed the crumbs from his hands, jumping when someone grabbed him from behind. "Ichigoo!" Instead of responding, he bent over and spat out half his mouthful to glare at his attacker.

"What the hell Keigo? I could've choked then you idiot!"

He grinned back, unfazed by Ichigo's murderous look. "Should've eaten at home then."

Ichigo groaned and straightened up, glancing around with a frown. "Where's Mizuiro?"

Keigo looked behind them and frowned in confusion. "I don't know, he was here a moment ago. Maybe he's lost?"

"No, I'm here." Keigo jumped and spun around to see Mizuiro stood smiling innocently next to Ichigo who was looking at him surprise. "What? I didn't want to get in the way, just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm here."

"Fair enough." Ichigo shrugged and slung his bag over his shoulder, continuing to school with the two in tow. "What did I miss yesterday?"

"Not much, Keigo tried it on with Rukia again."

He gave Mizuiro an indignant look as Ichigo snorted. "Damn, shame I missed that. What she do?"

"Kneed him in the chin and left him drooling in the corridor."

Keigo sighed and slung an arm around both of them, a goofy grin adorning his face. "She touched me..."

"Jeeze you don't stand a chance. Rukia's way out of your league."

He shrugged, letting go of them both to fall in step beside Ichigo, giving him a sly glance. "What about Grimmjow? Think he's in your league?"

Ichigo jerked in surprise and looked at him suspiciously. "How the hell would I know? I've never thought about something like that. What makes you think I have?"

Mizuiro and Keigo shared a glance before he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Ichigo."

Ichigo scowled, choosing not to reply as they continued walking, debating whether or not his crush on Grimmjow was really that obvious. It must have been, since Keigo had noticed. He mentally shook his head, berating himself for making it so obvious, the possibility of Grimmjow noticing almost scaring him enough not to go into school.

He paused outside the gates and sighed heavily before striding inside. Keigo giving Mizuiro a confused look at the odd behaviour and he shrugged back, no more informed than him about it. Following after him, they went into the classroom and Ichigo sat down, ducking when Renji threw a pen at him.

He picked up the pen, throwing it back and Renji grinned, mouthing 'what's up?' to him. Ichigo shook his head as the teacher walking in, mouthing 'later' before the class started.

...

When the lunch bell finally rang, Ichigo had barely left the classroom before Renji assaulted him, jumping onto his back with a yell, almost strangling him as he juggled his bag and the extra weight making up Renji.

"C'mon Ichigo, talk to me!"

"Get off and I will!"

Ichigo sighed in relief when he got off and glared at him. "Are you trying to kill me? First Keigo and now you? Is there some sort of plot I'm not aware of?"

Renji shrugged before grinned. "Dunno, but you've got a death wish."

"Tell me about it."

He muttered the words, Renji noting the way his shoulders slumped slightly and nudged them playfully. "So how'd it go yesterday? Doc gave you the all clear right?"

Renji, along with Rukia, were the only two who knew about his possible cancer scare. Ichigo hadn't intended on telling them, or anyone for the matter. But they found one of his letters in his room once so he had to explain, making them swear not to tell anyone.

He sighed and shook his head before starting to walk down the corridor, heading outside to meet up with the rest of their group. "Test came back positive Ren. Doc gave me a few months, half a year at best."

When Renji didn't respond, he stopped and turned to see he was looking at him in shock before he laughed nervously, shaking his head. "You're joking right?"

"No."

"C'mon Ichigo, don't mess around with me here. You can't die."

"Why not?" Ichigo sighed heavily and shrugged. "Look, I can't do anything about it so please, don't tell anyone. I want to enjoy my last few months and having everyone watching my every move with worried remarks isn't what I want."

Renji observed him for a few moments before grinning and punching his arm. "Yeah, I won't tell no-one. You still gunna be around for our trip in the summer?"

"You bet I am."

"Good. Aint gunna be much fun without you there strawberry." He ducked as Ichigo threw a punch at him and grinned, sticking his tongue out childishly. "See you outside!" He called, running off. Ichigo sighed and shook his head before slowly following, a small smile tugging at his lips.

_At least Renji took it well, as well as he could I suppose. Now there's only Rukia left to tell. I don't want anyone else to know, not yet anyway. _

Too lost in his own thoughts, Ichigo didn't notice he was heading straight for a group of students until he crashed into one and fell on his butt. A blush creeped up onto his cheeks as a few girls started giggling and he scowled, attempting to push himself up. He stopped when he felt a twinge in his side and collapsed again, staring at the floor in annoyance, wishing they would go away and leave him alone.

"Shit, sorry my bad. You ok?"

Ichigo's head snapped up at the sound of that rough voice, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw it was Grimmjow, currently crouched next to him and holding out a hand.

"Hey, you ok?"

"I-" Ichigo paused and sighed deeply before nodding. "I'm fine, just give me a minute."

Grimmjow frowned, but grabbed his arm anyway. "Come on, I aint leaving you to sit on the floor all day." He hauled Ichigo to his feet, grinning when the man tugged his arm free and glanced at him shyly.

"Thanks."

"No problem. See you around Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as Grimmjow left, hearing him chuckle lightly and the group of girls followed after him, their fluttering sighs the only thing left behind, making Ichigo scowl again. Rubbing his arm where Grimmjow had grasped it, he could still feel the slight burn of warmth he left and sighed, shaking his head.

"Keigo was right, I'm so fucking obvious." He glanced down the corridor where Grimmjow had disappeared, a frown marring his face. "He knows my name?"

Ichigo tried to think of a time he'd ever spoken to Grimmjow or even been in the same class as him, but couldn't. How could he know his name if they'd never spoke before their just so recent introduction? Remembering the last point on his list, Ichigo snorted and turned his back on the corridor, walking outside to join his friends.

...

Finally, when they day was over and done, Ichigo sighed in relief and piled everything into his bag to sort out later, rolling his eyes when Renji pulled him into a head lock.

"You coming out with us or what?"

Punching him in the stomach to successfully break free, he slung the bag over his shoulder and shrugged. "Sure, why not. Where we heading?"

"Out to gym track for a bit. Girls got cheerleading practice don't they."

Ichigo sighed and shook his head at Renji's lecherous grin. "Dude, just ask Rukia out already. Before Keigo makes his move."

Renji snorted, leading the way out of the classroom. "Please, Keigo makes his 'move' at least three times a week. I got no competition from him."

"Then why not ask her out?"

"Why don't you ask Grimmjow out?"

"Fair point. Let's not go any further."

"Sounds good."

They dropped the subject, heading outside to make camp next to the running track where the girls were practising. Further over, much to Ichigo's satisfaction the track running team were also practising, including their star runner, one Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques.

He glanced up when someone sat down next to them and smiled. "Hey Tatsuki."

"Hey." She glanced at Renji before jerking her head at the cheerleaders. "Watching them again huh?"

"You know what he's like. Where's Orihime?"

"Gone home, said something about making food." Tatsuki shuddered at the thought. "God knows how that girl survives."

"I'm with you on that." He watched as Rukia strided over to the group of cheerleaders, shouting some sort of instruction at them and snorted. "Rukia's got them trained well hasn't she."

"Yeah." Renji tore his gaze away to grin at them. "She's strong willed, exactly my type."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Ask her out idiot, stop being such a pansy."

"Yeah Renji, get a move on."

"I wasn't just talking to him you know."

Ichigo started slightly before looking at her suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged and stood up. "You know what it means. See you guys tomorrow, I'm gunna make sure Orihime doesn't poison herself." She left with a wave of her hand, leaving Renji to watch Rukia intently as Ichigo's gaze slowly returned to the runners.

He watched as Grimmjow bent down to stretch, sighing in his head before shaking himself mentally. _One day Ichigo, you will ask him, but not today. _His eyes widened in surprise when Grimmjow lifted his head and their eyes met, a smirk forming on his face. Ichigo felt his cheeks heat up and quickly ducked his head, cursing himself for staring.

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

Ichigo smiled at Renji, casting a glance at the runners again and sighed in relief to see Grimmjow's attention had been diverted. Unfortunately for him, that diversion came in the form of the head cheerleader, Sarah. His eyes narrowed in annoyance when she laughed at something he said and touched his arm. Ichigo felt a pang in his chest at the gesture, knowing he could never do that so casually, never be like that with Grimmjow.

Ichigo sighed and rested his head on his knees, closing his eyes briefly. _C'mon Ichigo just go do it, might as well get it out of the way. Hell, even if he ridicules you, it'll only be a few months. _

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't look now but your favourite persons coming this way."

Ichigo's head snapped up and his eyes widened in surprise to see what Renji was saying was indeed, true. Grimmjow was making his way over to them. Ichigo cursed himself mentally and stood up, casting a glance at Renji.

"I'll be right back."

"What you gunna do?"

"Something incredibly stupid."

"Gunna ask him out?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck."

"Thanks." Ichigo smiled briefly before walking over to Grimmjow, meeting him a good distance away from Renji so they wouldn't be overheard. "I need to ask you something."

"Ask away."

Ichigo opened his mouth to ask him, but choked on the words and paused, turning away to shake himself. "Whatever it is, can you hurry up? I'm supposed to be training."

He turned to frown at Grimmjow. "Then why did you even come over here in the first place?"

The man smirked. "C'mon, do you really think I haven't noticed you watching me the past few months. I'm not stupid. Whatever you need to say, go ahead and say it already. I'm all ears."

"Well, ok..." Ichigo paused, trying to assemble his thoughts again. Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again to look Grimmjow in the eyes. "Want to go out with me?"

Grimmjow smiled and Ichigo felt his knees go weak at seeing that smile up close for the first time. "In what context?"

"You know..." Ichigo waved his hand, feeling his cheeks warm up as his nerves started building again. "As in a date..."

He contemplated it for several agonising minutes before grinning. "Sure, how 'bout I pick you up tonight? Eight sound good?"

Ichigo looked at him astonished, he never thought Grimmjow would say yes and wasn't prepared for this situation. "Uh, sure."

"Great, see you then."

Ichigo watched as he turned to go back to practice before slowly returning to Renji, sitting down next to him with an unreadable expression. "He said no didn't he?" Renji asked, sighed heavily and shaking his head. "Damn Ichigo, I'm sorry."

"No, he said yes."

He looked at Ichigo in surprise before grinning and nudging his shoulder. "Well congrats, finally. How long have you been waiting to ask him? Gotta be over a year now, should've just done it from the beginning. That way you would've had more time." He stopped abruptly, looking at Ichigo worriedly.

Ichigo sighed and looked down. "Yeah, I guess we only have a few months at best." Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes at Renji. "Way to leave it to the last minute huh?"

"Yeah." Renji laughed and relaxed when Ichigo didn't bite his head off at the comment, returning to watching Rukia. "Think I should go for it?"

"Might as well. You never know."

"Yeah..." He stared off for a moment before standing up suddenly. "Well, wish me luck. I'm off to my doom."

"Good luck."

Ichigo shook his head, watching as Renji walked down to Rukia whilst the cheerleaders took a break. He looked back at Grimmjow and smiled to himself, feeling his heart beat that little bit faster. If he'd known Grimmjow would say yes, he would've asked a long time ago. But, in the end, at least he got some time with the man, even if it was only to be a few months. That was better than nothing in Ichigo's opinion.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

That night, half an hour before Grimmjow told Ichigo he would pick him up, Ichigo could be found pacing his room nervously. He paused in front of his mirror again and smoothed his shirt with a sigh. The door opened and through the mirror he could see it was his mother and smiled.

"Hey, everything ok?"

She nodded, moving into the room to shut the door quietly. "I have something for you."

"What's that?" He frowned in confusion as she walked over and stopped in front of him to look him over. "What is it?"

"You look really nice." She murmured, smiling at him proudly at him. "You really like this man don't you?"

Ichigo blushed, turning his head away to try and fail to hide it. "Yeah, I do." Masaki grasped Ichigo's wrist and placed something in his palm and Ichigo curled his fingers over the cool metal. When she removed her hand, Ichigo opened his and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw it was a ring. "What's this?"

"It was your grandfather's." She chuckled when Ichigo gave her a confused look. "He always wore it, said it brought good luck. I kept it to one day give to you, now is the right time." Kissing Ichigo's head, she ran her hand through his hair and sighed. "You're all grown up now, it's too soon."

"Mum..." Ichigo paused and looked down at the silver ring before smiling. "Thank you, I'll take good care of it, promise."

She smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. "My beautiful baby is all grown up." Ichigo sighed and hugged her tightly. "I can't believe we've only got a few months left with you."

"I'm not going anywhere for a while yet." He pulled back to smiled reassuringly at her before slipping the ring on to his middle finger of his right hand. "Thank you for the ring, I won't take it off, even for a second. If it brings good luck then I could use it tonight."

"Hoping to get lucky?"

"Mum!" Ichigo looked at her horrified, his face almost completely covered by his blush. "I can't believe you just said that!"

She laughed and kissed his head again before leaving the room to let Ichigo calm down. Ichigo sighed heavily and closed his eyes, attempting to calm his racing heart down and move his thoughts away from what his mother had implied.

He stiffened when he heard the doorbell ring and paused, listening as he heard voices downstairs and then someone coming up the stairs. Taking one last glance in the mirror, Ichigo straightened his shirt and attempted to flatten his hair before leaving the room, smiling at Yuzu in the corridor.

"Hey. Who was at the door?"

She giggled and grinned at him. "Someone called Grimmjow. Mum sent me to get you, are you going out with him?"

"Yeah." Ichigo frowned as she giggled again and saw she was blushing. "What?"

"He's very good looking isn't he?"

"Uh yeah, I guess he is." Ichigo rolled his eyes when she started laughing and looked at her amusedly. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, have fun." She ran off to her room, leaving Ichigo to watch her go with a confused frown before going downstairs. He paused when he heard Grimmjow say something and he father laugh in response. "Oh god no."

Karin walked into the room and rolled her eyes at him. "Better hurry up, dad will only stay sane for so long."

"Yeah, I know." Ichigo went into the hallway to see his father start asking Grimmjow a question, his blush reforming and all his efforts to calm down were in vain.

"So can I ask, what are your intentions with Ichigo?"

Grimmjow didn't respond for a moment, seemingly contemplating the question before answering. "I want to date him, that's why I'm here."

"And his condition?"

Grimmjow frowned in confusion, opening his mouth to ask what he meant but Ichigo intervened. "That's enough from you dad." He smiled nervously, getting in between the two. "We'll be going now, see you later." He grabbed Grimmjow's arm and pulled him out of the house before anyone could respond, sighing heavily when he closed the door and glanced at Grimmjow sheepishly. "Sorry about my dad, was he ok?"

"Yeah I guess, what did he mean by your 'condition'?"

Ichigo paused before shaking his head. "Nothing, he's just being an idiot as usual."

Grimmjow frowned, but didn't push the matter as Ichigo obviously didn't want to talk about it. Grimmjow lead Ichigo to his car and opened the door for him before getting in to drive them into town. When they got there, they walked in silence for a while, Ichigo starting to think maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to do this in the first place when Grimmjow finally spoke.

"Ever been to Espada's?"

Ichigo frowned and looked at him in confusion. "No. You really think I could afford that? It's the most expensive restaurant in Karakura. Why?"

"Well I'm taking you there."

Ichigo stopped in his tracks, looking at Grimmjow in shock. "What?"

"I'm taking you to Espada's, trust me, you'll like it."

"How can you afford it?" Ichigo shook his head disbelievingly. "I don't want to put you out Grimmjow. I'm fine with anything you know. It's not where we go that matters."

"Oh yeah, what matters then?"

"You." Ichigo blushed heavily after the word left his mouth and groaned, shaking his head. "You know what I mean."

Grimmjow chuckled and gently nudged his arm. "Don't worry about it Ichigo, you know I'm teasing you. And don't stress about Espada's, I'm not made of money but my uncle owns the place so we can get in cheap."

"So I'm your discount date?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him, folding his arms. "Well don't I feel special."

"You should do, I've never taken anyone there before." He paused and frowned before sighing, giving Ichigo a tight smile. "My uncle might push it a bit with you, sorry if he does."

"Why, what will he do?"

Ichigo was genuinely intrigued, and a little bit nervous, about what he was saying. Why hadn't Grimmjow ever taken anyone there? Especially if his uncle owned the place, he would have girls falling at his feet. Ichigo scowled at the last thought before shaking his head, pushing the thought aside, he was supposed to be enjoying himself here.

"I dunno, ask you a lot of questions. He'll be surprised I'm bringing you to his restaurant, that's for sure." Grimmjow lent closer to him. "Word of warning, he might think we've been together a while so he could come on strong."

"Ok, got it." Ichigo smiled nervously, making Grimmjow laugh.

"Don't look like that, you look like you're going to throw up. I might start thinking you're not enjoying this."

"Of course I am." Ichigo grinned at him, nudging his shoulder. "Thank you for saying yes. I didn't expect you to."

"Why not?"

"I didn't even know that you knew my name until you said it." He snorted and shook his head. "I didn't even think you knew I existed." They paused outside the restaurant and Ichigo rubbed his arm nervously.

Grimmjow noticed and opened the door, letting Ichigo in first before following. "If you wanna go somewhere else, just say and we can leave."

"No, this is fine. I'm not dressed up for it though." Ichigo smiled wryly, indicating at his black skinny jeans and loose fitting dark blue top. "I practically scream I don't belong here don't I?"

"Nah, I'm not dressed up either." Grimmjow shrugged and winked at him before moving to lean on the desk, gaining the hostess' attention. "Hi, I called earlier about making a reservation, under the name Jaeggerjaques."

She smiled, far too coyly for Ichigo's liking. "Of course Mr Jaeggerjaques, you know you don't have to make a reservation, there's always a table free for you. If you'll follow me I'll show you to your usual table." She twirled a strand of her hair, eyeing Grimmjow up for a moment before turning to lead them inside.

Grimmjow, seemingly unaffected by her flirtatious behaviour, grinned at Ichigo and winked. "Told ya, and I get real good discounts."

Ichigo snorted, but followed him inside the main room of the restaurant, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw just how expensive the place really was. They stopped in front of a table near the back, out of the main view to give them some privacy, something Ichigo was grateful for.

"Is this ok, do you need anything else?" The woman placed a hand on Grimmjow's shoulder and he looked up, shaking his head.

"No, we're good, thanks."

With that, he turned to look at Ichigo, who smiled at the put out look on her face. "Well, ok. Your waiter will be over in a few minutes."

"Thanks." She left and Ichigo grinned, shaking his head at Grimmjow when he frowned. "What?"

"Are you deliberately snubbing her, or were you just that oblivious?"

"What do you mean?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and lent closer so they weren't overheard. "She likes you and you completely dismissed her."

Grimmjow just shrugged before smiling at him. "Why would I look at her when you're here?" He blushed, sliding back to sit in his seat properly and couldn't help but smile at his lap. "I've always known about you Ichigo."

He frowned, looking up at Grimmjow again. "What?"

"When you said earlier you thought I didn't know you existed. Of course I did, how could I not?" Grimmjow lent forward, reaching out a hand and Ichigo slowly placed his in it. "You were always there, did you really think I hadn't noticed?"

Ichigo shrugged, looking at their hands with a soft smile. "Why did you never talk to me then? Why wait until I asked you out?"

Grimmjow sighed, sitting back in his seat and Ichigo removed his hand as the waiter came over and handed them menus, setting down a glass of water for them both and leaving. Ichigo grabbed the water to drink, giving Grimmjow a moment to think before answering his question.

"You really wanna know?"

He looked up to see Grimmjow looking at him with a soft smile and felt his heart flutter at the sight. "Yeah."

"I honestly didn't know whether or not you were interested. Sure you were looking at me, but that could've been face value. For all I knew you thought I was a jerk with a nice body."

Ichigo shook his head. "Of course it wasn't your body, I like you, your personality. Although, you do have a great body." Ichigo stopped abruptly, blushing hard when Grimmjow smirked and quickly picked up his menu to hide his face.

"Do I now?"

Ichigo ignored him, scanning over the menu to find his favourite food was on there, Karashi Mentaiko Spaghetti. "Hey they do Karashi!"

"You like that?"

He put the menu down to see Grimmjow leaned forward, looking at him curiously. "Uh, yeah. It's my favourite."

"So get it."

Ichigo nodded in agreement and smiled. "So what are you having?"

"My usual, Karasumi." Grimmjow chuckled when Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah I know, it's expensive. But I get discounts, ever tried it?"

"No."

"Well then have some."

Ichigo hesitated for a second before thinking what the hell and nodded. "Sure, but how much of a discount is it?"

Grimmjow snorted and shook his head. "I'm paying so don't worry about it. Don't argue with me." He added when Ichigo frowned and opened his mouth to object. "I'm taking you out so I pay."

He looked up when who Ichigo assumed was another waiter came over. "Well well, you're not alone. This is a surprise." The man gave him an amused look before observing Ichigo curiously. "Who is he?"

"My date." Grimmjow said the words proudly, grinning at Ichigo. "Thought I'd bring him here, give you a chance to show off your fancy restaurant. What do you think Ichigo?"

Ichigo started at the sudden question, his mind going blank at being put on the spot. "I, uh... It's great?"

The man chuckled, pulling up a chair to sit with them. "Is it? How eloquent of you." He blushed and ducked his head in embarrassment, figuring out on his own that this man was Grimmjow's uncle and he'd just made himself look like an idiot. "And innocent, where did you find him Grimmjow?"

"I didn't, Ichigo asked me out." Grimmjow looked at Ichigo, reaching out to nudge his elbow. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine." He reassured him quickly, looking up to give him a smile. "It's nothing, really."

"So, Ichigo?" Grimmjow's uncle tested out his name with a frown before shrugging. "How long have you been with Grimmjow? Must be a while since he's brought you here. I never thought I'd see the day."

Ichigo blushed again, shaking his head before glancing at Grimmjow to see he was smirking. "Actually, this is our first date."

His uncle looked generally surprised by the information, the expression on his face making Grimmjow laugh. He gave Grimmjow a look and sighed, shaking his head. "What did you want to order? Since I'm here I might as well take them."

"We'll both have the Karasumi." He winked at Ichigo when he frowned at him. "And coke."

His uncle nodded, casting Ichigo a weary glance before leaving. Ichigo's frown deepened, but he didn't ask about the man's strange behaviour. "Coke?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "I may get discounts, but dad would kill him if he gave us alcohol."

"I suppose." Ichigo wrapped his hands around his drink and looked at it with a frown. "Your uncle seems nice."

Grimmjow snorted at the comment and shook his head. "Yeah, his face when you said this was our first date, priceless."

He smiled wryly and looked up again, blushing when he saw Grimmjow was looking at him intently. "What?"

Grimmjow smiled before reaching out to grasp his hand, running his finger over Ichigo's ring. "What's this? You weren't wearing it earlier today. I've never seen you wear it before."

"My mum gave it to me earlier before you came over." Ichigo smiled softly and twirled it around his finger. "It was my grandfather's; it's supposed to bring good luck."

"So you're hoping to get lucky?"

He jerked his hand away with a blush, glaring at Grimmjow when he started laughing "No!"

"Oh, so you don't want to have sex with me?" He asked in mock offence, placing a hand over his heart. "That hurts Ichigo."

"Shut up, I didn't say I didn't want to have sex with you. Of course I do." Ichigo covered his mouth quickly, horrified that he'd actually just said those words. "I mean, not now! Or you know, any time soon!" He groaned, banging his head on the table loud enough to earn a few looks from the surrounding tables. "Ignore me; just leave me here to die."

Grimmjow grinned, reaching over to nudge his head. "C'mon Ichigo, you think I haven't thought about it too? Yeah ok, tonight is way too soon. But we still have a good long time to get to that."

_If only. _Ichigo thought, slowly sitting upright again as a waiter brought over their food and drinks before leaving with a short bow. He looked down at the food and sighed, pushing it across the plate. _If only we had a long time Grimmjow, things would be so much easier and a hell of a lot less complicated. But I can't complain, at least you want to date me._

"Hey." He jerked out of thoughts and looked at Grimmjow questioningly. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, why?"

He shrugged and looked away. "Because you went quiet on me for a bit there. I thought I said something offending."

Ichigo smiled softly and shook his head. "No, sorry I got lost in my thoughts. You haven't done anything wrong, trust me. I'm enjoying this."

"Well, that's good. Would've been kinda a put out if I pissed you off on our first date." Grimmjow looked at him again with a grin before indicating at the food. "Try it, its real good."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, but did as told and ate a mouthful, his eyes closing in bliss. "You weren't kidding, this stuff's amazing."

"Told you so."

Ichigo ate the rest quickly, attempting to eat slowly but couldn't help it, the stuff was just that damn good that it rivalled Yuzu's, which was saying something. "I'm gunna have to get the recipe and give it to Yuzu to try out, think your uncle will give it to me?"

Grimmjow shrugged and pushed his empty plate away to smile satisfied at Ichigo. "Dunno, I can ask for you. I don't think anyone's tried before. I'll see if I can bend his arm on it."

"You're the best."

"I aim to please." Flashing Ichigo a smirk, he stood up and held out his hand for him to take. "Ready to go?"

"What about dessert?" Ichigo blushed when Grimmjow gave him an amused look. "I like dessert."

"You wanna eat something real posh, or you wanna go get some ice cream?" Grimmjow asked, grinned when Ichigo smiled and stood up, taking his hand in his own. "Ice cream then?"

"Sounds good to me." He led Ichigo back to the entrance, pausing to pay and Ichigo leaned against him idly, smiling at the warmth radiating from his side. He even managed to ignore the woman's flirtatious behaviour with Grimmjow, since it was plainly obvious he wasn't interested in her. "Grimmjow?" He asked once they were outside and walking down the street. "How are we gunna get ice cream at this time of night?"

Grimmjow looked at him and winked, pulling him into a 24-hour shop and leading him over to the freezers. "Take your pick, I'll be back in a sec."

He left Ichigo there and her peered into the freezer before smiling and taking out two flavours. Wandering down the aisle, he found Grimmjow heading back and joined up with him and smiled. "Hey."

Grimmjow looked down at the tubs, raising his eyebrow at the flavours. "Strawberry and blueberry huh?"

Ichigo blushed, choosing not to answer the question, instead coming out with his own. "What you go to get?"

He held out his hands to show Ichigo the plastic spoon, flakes and ice cream cones. "If we're gunna eat ice cream, we've gotta do it right."

Ichigo grinned and nodded in agreement, following him to the till. "So where we going to eat it?"

"There's a park down the road, should be quiet this time of night, wanna go?"

"Ok." He followed Grimmjow to the park and as he said it was deserted. Sitting down on one of the swings, Grimmjow joined him and passed him the tubs to open. "I'm definitely not sleeping tonight. Can't wait for school tomorrow."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow before scooping some of the ice cream out onto a cone. "Why? Ice cream make you go crazy?"

"In a sense, not so much crazy as hyper." Ichigo blushed when Grimmjow chuckled. "What?"

"You're like a big kid." He handed Ichigo the ice cream before making his own. "I like it." Thankfully for Ichigo, it was dark so Grimmjow couldn't make out the blush covering his face by now. Instead, he cleared his throat and looked at Grimmjow expectantly who rolled his eyes and handed him a flake. "There you go kiddo."

"Shut up, I'm not a kid."

"You're younger than me."

"Only by a few weeks so if I'm a kid so are you." He said smugly, licking the side of the cone as the ice cream dripped down it.

"Hey, I have no objections to that, I never said I wasn't a kid." Grimmjow grinned and him before diverting his attention to his own ice cream.

"So do you make a habit of doing this at night?"

"Mmm, what?"

Ichigo snorted, finishing his ice cream before sweeping a hand out to include the park. "Taking your dates to a quiet, dark and remote place, just to eat ice cream?"

He blushed when Grimmjow grinned and lent closer to him. "Maybe I'm not here for the ice cream." Ichigo choked slightly, glaring at him when he started laughing. "Don't worry Ichigo, I won't do anything to you that you won't like."

"That doesn't reassure me in the slightest."

"Why? Do you want something to happen?" Ichigo shivered when Grimmjow voice dropped to barely above a whisper, the words only heard because he was so close. "Something tells me you would enjoy it."

Ichigo turned to look at him, gripping the rail of the swing to maintain his balance. "Maybe I would, how would you know?" He felt Grimmjow's hand slide into his hair and lent forward, pressing one hand to his chest. "You wanna find out?"

Grimmjow was that close that Ichigo felt him smile rather than saw it. His eyes fluttered shut when Grimmjow's lips brushed his, not quite enough to be called a kiss but enough for him to know his intentions. Ichigo could feel his heart pounding, hard enough that he was sure it was going to kill him and as he lent forward to kiss Grimmjow, pain lashed through his side, making his gasp and loose his balance, falling onto the floor with a thud.

For a moment he lay there stunned, unable to do anything until the pain subsided. Through the sound of blood pounding in his head, he could hear someone saying his name and opened his eyes slowly to see Grimmjow looking at him worriedly, smiling when he saw he was still conscious.

"Hey, you ok?"

He backed up as Ichigo sat up and groaned, rubbing his side with a wince. "Shit. Sorry about that, what happened?"

Grimmjow frowned and touched his cheek, noting Ichigo was sweating. "You went rigid and fell of the swing. You looked like you were in a lot of pain."

Ichigo waved him off and stood slowly, sighing in relief when nothing happened, cursing himself for not taking any medication before leaving. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." He wrapped his arms around himself as the wind picked up and glanced at Grimmjow as he stood. "Can you take me home?"

"Sure."

Grimmjow collected together their stuff and Ichigo watched sadly, knowing the moment had passed now and he wouldn't be kissing him tonight at any rate. They walked back to his car in silence and Ichigo slid into the passenger seat, refusing to look at Grimmjow when he sat down next to him.

He heard Grimmjow sigh and start the car to drive him home and couldn't find any words to say. How could he explain what had happened? He wasn't ready to tell Grimmjow about his cancer, not yet and off the top of his head, he couldn't think of any other plausible reason.

When they got back, Grimmjow walked him up to the door and Ichigo finally turned to look at him and smiled. "Thanks for tonight, I had a great time."

"Yeah, I did to." Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his head before looking down at him. "See you at school I suppose." He reached to touch Ichigo before hesitated and sighing, letting his hand drop and turned to leave.

Ichigo watched him go and sighed before running after him down the street, grabbing his arm to make him stop. "Grimmjow, I-… I need to tell you something."

He turned to look at Ichigo with a frown. "What?"

Ichigo looked down and sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment to brace himself before looking at Grimmjow again sadly. "I have cancer. That's what my dad was on about, my 'condition'."

Whatever Grimmjow was expecting, it wasn't that as his eyebrow's rose in surprise and he stared at Ichigo in shock, unable to find anything to say for several moments. Eventually, he cleared his throat and touched Ichigo's cheek with a frown.

"Is that what earlier was about. At the park?"

Ichigo nodded and dropped his gaze to look at the floor, unable to meet Grimmjow's eyes. He wrapped his arms around himself and shrugged. "I found out yesterday." He whispered, not knowing why he was telling Grimmjow, but he knew enough to know he needed to. "I have six months at best. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want you to treat me differently." He looked up and smiled sadly at Grimmjow. "I wanted you to see me as a normal person, not someone with cancer." Ichigo's gaze faltered when Grimmjow didn't respond and he stepped back, looking down again. "So that's it huh?"

He sighed and turned to leave, he should've known Grimmjow wouldn't want anything to do with him when he found out. _At least I have tonight, I won't forget it, even if it was our only date. _

He jumped in shock when Grimmjow caught his arm and spun him round. He opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, but never got the chance as Grimmjow bent down and pressed their lips together firmly. Ichigo's protests were forgotten in that moment and his eyes slid shut as he kissed back, slowly moving into Grimmjow's arms in an effort to get closer to him.

Nothing could compare to what Ichigo felt in that moment, that searing connection he felt to Grimmjow had no rivals. He didn't want to stop, he didn't want to think, he just wanted to feel that warmth spreading in his chest, chasing away the cold.

When Grimmjow pulled away, he smiled at Ichigo, noting the dazed look in his eyes and chuckled. "Do you really think that because you have cancer, I wouldn't want to be with you?"

Ichigo looked at him in confusion, a small smile tugging at his lips. "So you still wanna be with me?"

"I haven't waited over a year for this, just to walk away over cancer." Grimmjow said the words firmly, banishing any uncertainty from Ichigo's mind. "You mean too much, for me to do that."

Ichigo blushed, resting his hands on Grimmjow's chest with a sigh and closed his eyes again. "Thank you." He shivered when the wind cut through his thin jacket and wrapped his arms around Grimmjow, grateful when he pulled him closer. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"I can guess." Grimmjow sighed, slowly pulling away to smile at him. "Walk you back again?"

Ichigo grinned and entwined their fingers before nodded, leaning heavily on Grimmjow's side as they walked back to the clinic. He turned to look at Grimmjow again and smiled brightly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yup. See you at school." Grimmjow cradled his cheek, kissing him briefly before leaving again. "Bye."

"Bye." Ichigo whispered back before shivering, the warmth of Grimmjow's body already leaving his so he went inside. Closing the door, he lent against it and sighed happily to himself, not realising Masaki was there.

"So, it went well then?"

Ichigo jumped violently, blushing when his mother laughed and sighed. "Yeah, it went great." He grinned before heading up the stairs, unwilling to share the experience with anyone just yet. "I'm gunna go to bed, see you tomorrow!"

Masaki heard him bound up the stairs and sighed, shaking her head. "I hope he's going to treat you well Ichigo. The last thing you need is a broken heart."


End file.
